In 1999, UNCRD began implementing a series of five training courses for the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam on "Planning and Management of Urban Development" in collaboration with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). From 25 January to 29 February 2004, UNCRD conducted the last course in the series with the participation of eight mid-level officials from the central and local governments of Viet Nam. With the completion of the fifth course, UNCRD has now trained a total of thirty-eight professional staff from central and local governments in Viet Nam during the five-year programme.

Background

Since the economic reform policy "doi moi" was introduced in 1986, Viet Nam's macroeconomic performance has been quite impressive. The country is currently experiencing rapid urbanization and a development boom in various regions, which are accompanied by notable degradation in living environment. Under such circumstances, the government is required to improve and maintain the living environment while developing industrial complexes, new towns, as well as strengthening the tourism industry so that balanced regional development can be promoted in harmony with the natural and agricultural environment.

Against this background, UNCRD launched a training course entitled "Planning and Management of Urban Development for the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam" beginning in 1999 as a JICA/UNCRD five-year project. The initial training course generally covered environmental issues and new town development in Viet Nam, while the following courses were more issue-specific. The second training course focused on human security and improvement of the living environment; and the third course, in consideration of rapid urbanization and the development boom, examined the methodologies for improving and maintaining the urban living environment. The fourth course which had the theme of urbanization and living environment improvement focused on the preservation and improvement of the living environment and explored how this can be realized in order to meet the necessary standards in terms of the five perspectives of living environment -- safety, health, convenience, amenity and sustainability. Under the theme "sustainable urban development and living environment improvement," the fifth training course, which was intended to round off the four previous courses, focused on solid waste and wastewater management and other environmental issues which require urgent attention in rapidly urbanizing Viet Nam. The course also reviewed the achievements of the previous four courses and attempted to synthesize them.

Course Programme and Module

The course contents included lectures, field visits, group discussions, and preparation and presentation of action plans. The lectures covered the following modules: (1) introduction to living environment improvement; (2) local autonomy system; (3) urban development and living environment improvement; (4) citizen participation and living environment improvement; (5) urban environmental management; (6) urban disaster management; and (7) synthesis. In relation to these lecture inputs, participants observed Chikusa Ward's comprehensive district development in Nagoya City, Kamakura City's participatory community development, Setagaya City's improvement of a dense residential area with citizen participation, Kurashiki City's industrial pollution control measures and historical townscape conservation, Nagoya City's facilities for solid waste disposal and sewage treatment, the Yahagi River's environmental management, and Senri New Town development in Osaka Pref. The participants reviewed the inputs from these lectures and field studies and discussed with UNCRD resource persons various aspects including possibilities and techniques of applying useful measures to the Vietnamese context.

Achievements of the Course

The fifth training course focused on issues of living environment improvement from a viewpoint of sustainability. Concerning the living environment, participants learned from both successful and unsuccessful Japanese cases through lectures, field visits, and group exercises. As for concept and theory, citizen participation continued to be a major topic for Vietnamese participants. The importance of citizen participation in project planning and implementation was clearly communicated to participants especially through field studies in Kamakura City, Setagaya City, and Kurashiki City.

At first, for participants who are used to government-led and top-down development, such a participatory approach seemed to be time-consuming and inefficient because of the difficulty in building a consensus among citizens. However, as they deepened their understanding of both advantages and disadvantages of the approach, they gradually changed their way of thinking. In particular, they took great interest in the persistent and step-by-step efforts made by Setagaya City and Taishido-District Community Development Conference to make their living environment less vulnerable to disasters through citizens' initiatives. In a question and answer session, participants were moved by the Vice Chairman's comment:

His comment, which was underpinned by his long-term experiences of trial and error, impressed participants in spite of different economic development and administrative system between the two countries.

On the other hand, as for hardware-oriented living environment improvement, sewage treatment and solid waste disposal are indispensable topics from the perspectives of health and amenity of the living environment. Participants were eager to learn about wastewater treatment since there are no treatment facilities for household sewage and it is an urgent issue in urban area of Viet Nam. At the end of the course, two participants from Hung Yen Province assimilated and incorporated what they had learned from the relevant lecture and field visit into their personal action plan.

Group action plans were prepared by the participants after analysis and comparison between the above Japanese cases and those of Viet Nam. Each action plan contained a unique proposal to improve each participant's respective administration system by applying knowledge and information from Japanese cases. Plans included "Management of Solid Waste and Wastewater Pho Noi Town, Hung Yen Province," "Industrial Complex Management in Binh Duong Province," and "New Development Plan of Vinh Long Town, Vinh Long Province." If the participants share inputs from the training course with their supervisors and colleagues, it will probably help them to better implement their action plans, which, in turn, will contribute to the well-being of the local people. For maximum effect, officials should share this kind of knowledge and information not only within their organizations but also with the general public. Through such an open attitude on the part of the administration, citizen participation will surely be further encouraged, thereby leading to better public administration. It is to be hoped that participants make every effort to share information and ideas with the general public as well as with their colleagues for the overall improvement of public administration.